Iowa Skillshed
Analysis

A Skillshed is the geographic area from
which a region pulls its workforce and the
skills, education, and experience that the
workforce possesses. Traditionally,
labor markets have been studied in terms of
the products produced by a region to
understand what industries are relatively
strong. A Skillshed helps to
understand not only where the region’s
competitive strengths currently lie, by
understanding the current workforce mix, but
also in which occupations or industries
could the region grow into by understanding
the difference between the current skill set
and that skill set needed by emerging
markets.

The current skill set of a region is
measured by translating the current jobs
held by the workforce into a set of
knowledge levels and work activities.
Location quotients are also performed by
occupational category to understand the
current strengths of the region. By
clustering the skill set of the current
workforce, we identify the emerging
occupational categories that are
statistically closest in skills and
education. It is into these categories
that a region will be able to transition
most effectively and efficiently.

The need for a Skillshed lies in the ability
to match the current skills of the workforce
with the skills needed in high-growth,
high-pay jobs and to do so in the most
efficient way possible. This is
possible because the Skillshed matches the
skills of the current workforce with the
closest cluster of emerging occupations.
In this way, a region can prepare for future
occupational needs but do so spending the
least amount of resources and placing fewer
educational demands on its workforce.

The Skillshed brings together and analyzes
information from three different sources;
current Laborshed Survey data, the Regional
Workforce Needs Assessment (Job Vacancy)
Survey data, and information from the
Occupational Information Network (O*NET).
These three sources are used to present the
supply and demand for labor within the
region and the skills required to perform an
occupation.